July 07, 2009

Descansos--"resting places"

While out for a walk recently, we passed by a vehicle parked along the
street with a memorial decal on the back window. These are much more
common here in New Mexico than you might think.

It reminded me of another interesting part of New Mexico culture, the roadside memorials called descansos, meaning "resting places."

I did a little research on the internet and found some history on the website Descansos, which contains a photo perspective of these memorials. The following is an excerpt from the website:

THE CUSTOM of marking the site of a death on the highway has
deep roots in the Hispanic culture of the Southwest, where these memorials are
often referred to as Descansos ("resting places").

Traditionally, Descansos were memorials erected at the
places where the funeral procession paused to rest on the journey between the
church and the cemetery. The association thus created between the road, the interrupted
journey, and death as a destination, eventually found expression in the
practice of similarly marking the location of fatal accidents on the highway.

"THE FIRST DESCANSOS were resting places where those
who carried the coffin from the church to the camposanto paused to rest. In the
old villages of New Mexico, high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains or along the
river valleys, the coffin was shouldered by four or six men.

"Led by the priest or preacher and followed by mourning
women dressed in black, the procession made its way from the church to the
cemetery. The rough-hewn pine of the coffin cut into the shoulders of the men.
If the camposanto was far from the church, the men grew tired and they paused
to rest, lowering the coffin and placing it on the ground. The place where they
rested was the descanso.

"The priest prayed; the wailing of the women filled the
air; there was time to contemplate death. Perhaps someone would break a sprig
of juniper and bury it in the ground to mark the spot, or place wild flowers in
the ground. Perhaps someone would take two small branches of piñon and tie them
together with a leather thong, then plant the cross in the ground.

"Rested, the men would shoulder the coffin again, lift
the heavy load, and the procession would continue. With time, the descansos
from the church to the cemetery would become resting spots.”